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Friday, September 18, 2009

Choosing a Title

It’s never easy, is it? You spend months and months writing and then months more revising. You finally get the book finished, feel good about it and are now sitting down to write your query, and of course your next book, and that’s when you realize that, yes, your title is important too and slapping on just any title, including the working title, might not work anymore. Well, choosing a title is one thing agents can relate very closely to. We spend a lot of time with authors brainstorming ideas for titles before a book goes out on submission, and later when the editor calls to ask us for a list of ideas. Titles aren’t easy and they are important. In a sense, a title is the first words any reader will read when it comes to your book.

While I will tell you not to get too attached to your title because most of the time your title will be changed once the publisher gets her hands on the book, I will also tell you that it’s still important that the title you choose is strong because there’s always the chance the publisher decides to keep your title. More important, though, the title can grab an agent’s or editor’s attention before she even reads the cover letter and it can excite her or it can bore her. Second Chances, for example, is a title Kim and I mention frequently because it’s a title we see all the time. I don’t think a month goes by when I don’t get a query for Second Chances. I’m bored before I even get to the book. The title is not original; I don’t even think it sounds original to those of you reading the blog (there have been many published books with that title), and it says to me that maybe your book isn’t much more original.

To some extent, and in some genres, you can’t be as off-the-wall as you can with others; for example, paranormal romance, cozy mysteries, YA and chick lit lend themselves to creative, really fun and eye-catching titles while suspense, thrillers, and science fiction have a more staid formula. That doesn’t mean that you can’t still try to think a little outside of the box, just make sure the title you choose fits the genre. For example, Tale of the Big Green Frog is probably not the best title for suspense.

What if you find the title that works for you, Google it, and suddenly realize that it’s also the title of one or two other books out there? Since titles can’t be copyrighted (at least in the U.S.) I wouldn’t worry about it. That is, I wouldn’t worry about it unless you’ve chosen a title that’s already easily identified with something else. Twilight is out, so is The Stand, The Da Vinci Code and Pride and Prejudice. These are titles that even those who don’t read a lot recognize, and they will likely make an editor or agent wonder if you also ripped off material for your book.

It’s almost impossible to find a title that’s entirely different and unique from everything else, so the goal is to find one that fits your book, that represents the atmosphere or genre you are trying to sell and that is as strong as you can make it. As for the rest, you can worry about that once the sale is made.

Titles are my nightmare. I often ask my family for help. I'd love for an agent or editor to change it because they have to be doing better than me. I also worry if a title could be too long or have words that are too big. I have a wip now with the word "disreguarding" in the title. Would that fly? I guess I'm asking this because I've also done ad work and the rule there is short and sweet.

I realize that category romances are most often chosen by the publisher but, in your opinion, does a romance title have to focus on the positive? In other words, in spite of the HEA requirement, can the title hint at the dilemma or conflict as opposed to the union or HEA? Or is that a turn off in category romances?

I prefer simple titles, but apparently that's the norm for my main genre (sci-fi). I think one-word titles are the most common, and it's extremely rare for them to have more than three words...with one of those usually being the, and, or of. And it's a lot more difficult to come up with something original when you only have 1-3 words to work with.I write chick lit, too, on occasion. My titles for those stories tend to be longer, and much more original.

I submitted a complete manuscript (under a certain working title) to a well known publisher's critique service. I got excellent feedback and did extensive revisions. I also decided to change the title after said revisions. If I query this publisher, is it worth it to mention that I used their critique service? Would it show how serious I am about writing and how willing I am to revise? The problem is that I'd have to mention the old title (so they don't think I'm lying) and the new one in the query. I'm thinking that having two different titles in a query may be confusing and distracting. What do you think? Should I just not mention using their service at all?

To-date, all my titles have been used by my publisher. I think I'm pretty good at it. However, one of my current novel projects has a title, Dressed To Kill, that I don't actually like and don't think fits the novel very well. It was originally The Zombie Zoo, but although I like that, I think it might send the wrong message about the type of book (Maybe: Murder at the Zombie Zoo, who knows?) it is. It's rare for me to get this far into a book without a good solid title, but the book's working fine, so I'm not worrying about it much. Still, a good title helps.

And these days it never seems to hurt to add the word "Zombie" at the end of the title. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. What's next? The Da Vinci Code and Zombies?

My first thought when I saw this topic was, why write about titles when the publisher is likely to change it anyway?

Author Toni Blake did a workshop at my chapter meeting last week. She said small publishers are more likely to let you keep your title than the New York publishers -- I've heard this from other published authors, too.

My titles change as the story evolves. Changing the title helps me keep the focus of the story clear in my head. I don't always become attached to my titles, unless they are a perfect fit.

Most, I wouldn't mind changing. Those perfect fit ones? I would be really sad to let them go.

I love to play with words, make up titles, but I'm not married to them. If I was lucky enough to get an agent or an editor and they wanted changes made, I'd be more than happy to do so.

For a while one word and three word titles seemed in vogue, I'm now seeing five and six words. Guess it's a new trend. It's harder to remember the title though and when you want to refer to it in conversation or on a blog where you don't have the book handy it can get confusing.

Sometimes, the first title stays with the manuscript the whole way through the seemingly endless editing phases . . . and other times, the title changes.

Great post and thanks for the info. I'm going to still try to come up with the best titles EVER . . . even though an agent, editor, publisher, or even my mother might want to change it at some point. : )

Ah titles--the bane of my writing life :P It's always the hardest thing for me. I always get help from my younger sister who's also a writer--she's got a gift for coming up with really creative titles.

My current WiP though I actually got a decent title fairly early on, which is the first time that's ever happened for me. First time for everything right? :)

Thank you for this post. I am in the naming process right now and am trying to stay away from anything remotely like "Second Chances". Not that I was considering it, but I didn't think it was that widely used. It would be very interesting to see a list of the most common title submissions.

This one's tough for me because I often get the title before I get the story--the title essentially becomes my launch pad, but I will admit that when my new Kensington editor told me my entire series would be called Wolf Tales, I thought she was nuts. I mean, that was the name of the first book, not the whole series. Well, I'm getting ready to write Wolf Tales 11 (Roman numerals got too cumbersome) and I take back all the evil thoughts I had about Audrey's idea. In this case the title has become the brand and it's obviously working.

I have yet to find a book with my title. It's called 'Lessons from the Monk I Married'. I have a blog by the same title. It's a non-fiction book I am working on. It seems to grab the reader's attention!

It's amazing you'd post this today, because as I was writing in my wip this morning, I came up with a possible title for my next book. I immediately Googled it and found there are several previous releases w/that title. I thought, "Well, that takes care of that!" Now that I know titles can't be copy written, I think I'll go with it.

I also love the title to the book I'm currently querying. It's a mystery, so the title fits well. Although, as with anything along the writing process, I'm always willing to revise!

"I have yet to find a book with my title. It's called 'Lessons from the Monk I Married'. I have a blog by the same title. It's a non-fiction book I am working on. It seems to grab the reader's attention!"

Ah, this is a winner. It says it all, you've got the credentials -- (and I don't know you, I'm just assuming). Very wise.

For that person who used a publisher's critique service...? That doesn't sound very good to me. Check out preditors and editors.

Great topic. It's very much easier in lieterary fiction to be really creative (Eggers' Staggering Work of Extraordianry Genius is beautiful, as are titles like Elina Hirvonen's When I Forgot, or Banana Yoshimoto's enigmatic n.p.).

The master, though, wasn't an author at all but a screenwriter - the much maligned Joe Eszterhas (whatever you think of his material). Back in the bad old Simpson/Bruckeimer days, there was pretty much one rule if you wanted a killer title for a high octane film: two short words - "Basic Instinct", "Fatal Attraction", "Jagged Edge". See, that's where he went wrong with Showgirls...

There's a lot to be said today as well for considering the rhythm, cadence, and impact of the words you use. Not just for the two-card trick, but for all genres. The old rule of "say it out loud" is even more important for titles than every other sentence you write.

But don't listen to me, I called my last 2 books "Songs from the Other Side of the Wall" and "The Man who Painted Agnieszka's Shoes"

I remember the recent rash of fiction books that used the titles of pop songs. This bugged the HECK out of me. I refused to read them. Another thing I can't stand is when an author uses a name that already has a place in literary history. BAM! Right against the wall.

Becke--I've got a heroine who is in her late fifties and first appears in Wolf Tales V, again in VII and VIII and some of the Sexy Beast novellas as well. My characters, once introduced, all tend to show up again later in the series, but Millie West is a fairly pivotal character.

Angie, I love it! And must admit, I still think your first book, The Accidental Demon Slayer, gets top honors for great titles!

I love my WIP's title - I was frantically trying to get the first few pages ready for a contest and realized I needed a title to submit it. I asked my husband, who jokingly suggested something off the top of his head - and it totally fits! I'm trying not to get too attached to it, but I guess I just have to sell the book first . . .

My current WIP has been giving me titling headaches almost since I began it. I can come up with really catchy titles...as long as I haven't already written the story. If I have, the best I can do is a working title. Uninvoked is a working title that stuck. -.-

I'll always remember when I saw the title of my favorite book on a front-of-the-shop table, propped up all shiny and new. "An American Tragedy," called to me, but as I approached I realized it wasn't the Dreiser masterpiece. Instead, it was a book about Nicole Brown Simpson and O.J. ew.

I work in a library, and was surprised recently by the sight of a new book titled Eclipse. (For those who don't know, one of the books in the Twilight series has the same title.) I guess it was just vague enough.

I am in the process of finishing my first book. I believe the title I have chosen is a real eye-catcher but I'm concerned it may be too dark. My book is nonfiction or should I try to come up with something softer. I don't want the title to scare people off.

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BookEnds is a literary agency that believes in the power of a book. We represent authors who write primarily commercial fiction and nonfiction for adult and young adult audiences. Our agents include Jessica Faust, Kim Lionetti, Jessica Alvarez, and Beth Campbell.